A variety of goods are packaged in containers having an opening flap. Opening flaps are an attractive opening feature since when opened, the opening flap remains connected to some other part of the container. Such opening flaps are desirable since the opening flap conveniently remains attached to the container when the user of the container desires to close the container.
Containers typically employ an opening flap in one of two arrangements. In the first arrangement, the opening flap is an entire planar surface of the container and the opening flap is pivotably connected to the remainder of the container body. This arrangement advantageously provides for a wide opening into the container and can make it convenient to access the contents of the container. For plastic containers, the opening flap may seal to the remainder of the container by a wedge seal between a channel about part of the periphery of the opening flap and a rim about part of the container. To open the user must apply sufficient force to dislodge the channel in the opening flap from the rim of the remainder of the container. Such wedge seals can provide for an opening flap that tightly seals to the remainder of the container. However, opening flaps having wedge seals that are too tight can be inconvenient to open. For paperboard containers, the opening flap is commonly provided with one or more flaps that are tucked into the inner periphery of the remainder of the container. Opening flaps that are tuck closed are notorious for being leaky, sometimes unpredictably pop open, and can be over-rotated and end up being pushed into the interior of the remainder of the container when heavy objects are placed on the opening flap or when the user applies too much force to the opening flap when closing the opening flap.
In the second arrangement, the opening flap is part of a planar surface of the container. When the user opens the flap, a portion or portions of the surface remain connected to the remainder of the container body. Typically, the opening flap is a partial cutout of the planar surface with the boundary between the opening flap and planar surface from which it is cut being a through cut of the planar surface made orthogonal to the planar surface of the container. This arrangement advantageously provides for an opening that can be sized and dimensioned to provide easy access to the contents of the container, can be easy to manufacture, and can be sized and dimensioned to help retain the contents of the container if the container is tipped over. Problems associated with such types of opening flaps include that they may be leaky, they may unpredictably open, and they can be over-rotated and end up pushed into the interior of the remainder of the container when heavy objects are placed on the opening flap or when the user applies too much force when closing the opening flap.
With these limitations in mind, there is a continuing unmet need for containers having an opening flap that can be securely closed and be less prone to over-rotating into the interior of the container.